COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTIONBig boozy bourbon and American oak aromas combined with soft chocolate malty undertones. Complex malt flavors framed in oak, with hints of dark chocolate, vanilla, tobacco, coconut and just a touch of dark cherry. This is definitely a sipping beer, best served in a brandy snifter. This ale pairs well with dark chocolate and sturdy cheeses.

Note: Sucaba is the beer formerly known as Abacus until the Winter 2012 release.

Dark brown opaque pour w/ a thick small bubbled tan head with thick lacing. Sweet brown sugars, oak, chocolate, hints of vanilla. Full well coated palate, thick rich and creamy. Flavor is devine! Rich milk chocolates are the lead taste, a tiny hint of tart cherry, a good amount of vanilla, a dry oaky finish, warm swallow but a very well hidden alcohol and a surprising 13%. Aftertaste is almost a syruppy sweet quality. I wish I had more of this as I think it would pair well with a big cheese or something like that. Loved it!

A touch of a disappointment overall. Huge, boozy barrel-aged flavors dominate coconut and vanilla flavors. The alcohol and heat add a rough edge to the spice and chocolate nuances and the abv really shows on the finish. Aggressive and a bit out of balance, but for fans of the style.

A beautiful deep blood red color with a small soapy beige head. Exquisite aroma. Powerful, full of character and complexity, and so cohesive. Jam, dark fruit, dark brown sugar, dark chocolate, along with super well integrated barrel character. Flavor follows but is not as distinctly. Lighter full body. Warm alcohol.

Bottle of the 2013. Shared by my buddy. All I can say about this beer is wow. Barley wines are hit or miss for me. I usually stray away from sweeter beers. I don’t much care for many English-leaning beers. Sucaba is all of those things, yet so damn delicious. The beer is thick and ruby in appearance with a huge head. Time has cleared out the body. The massive aroma is sweet, but tastefully so and endlessly complex. There are notes of vanilla, oak, sherry, earth, dark fruits, raisins, toasted brown sugar and bread. The palate is huge and boozy in a very good way, not the way the burns, but rather nicely warms me up and commands slow-sipping enjoyment. All these sweet flavors don’t come across as sticky or sugary they just delightfully intermingle. All the character is harmonious and balanced with a tasteful oaken, sherry note. The flavor is much like the aroma but really brings out the notes of standing in a humidor. Ladies and gentlemen, this is how you do a classic barleywine. Phenomenal.

651 ml. bottle. Vintage 2015 No. 005. ABV 13.3% per the label. Pours a medium, well retained, tiny bubbled, light beige head, over a clear, ruby brown (SRM 22) effervescent, body.....nose is bourbon from the barrel, dried fruits, including plum, fig, raisin, hints of cocoa, chocolate, from the malts, minimal hops, balance to the malts and barrel......taste is bourbon, wood with hints of vanilla, sweet, with heavy dried fruits, including fig, raisin, plum, slight cherry, hints of tobacco, minimal hops, balance to the malts.....mouth feel, medium body, harsh, non fusel, alcohol heat, light carbonation after the initial pour. This Barley Wine is way too young and needs months to years to round up and mature. The forces used in it are tremendous. The fifth ingredient in Barley Wines which is time, is lacking. It needs copious aging. Technically it is a wonderfully made beer, but it is just too young, so why did they release it?. BJCP 9/3/13/3/7

Bomber poured into FW reserve glass. 2015 vintage. Beautiful maroon body with a nice off white head that dissipates. Smells of bourbon, malt, sugar and leathery tobacco. Tastes of milky coconut, thick leather polished off with some bourbon. Some heat on the tongue most likely because its a young beer. Also notes of chocolate left afterward. God, this might be the best beer I’ve ever had.

Join us! RateBeer is made by beer enthusiasts for the craft beer community.
Your basic membership is free and allows you to read all beer ratings.
Click here to create your account... and give your opinion!